Page 47 of Powerful Deception

The second I do, though, I see that I’m not the only one up at two in the morning.

We meet each other’s eyes at the same time, and I think it might be the shock of finding Dante down here that makes my eyes wander.

And by wander, I mean they wander down his chest. His very naked, broad chest. A chest with more muscles than what I’ve ever seen on someone.

Then my eyes wander some more, down to his stomach which is flat and has ridges going across it. Abs. This man has abs.

Isn’t he almost forty? How does he look this good? This man is making my mouth water.

Oh my god, did I just think that? Did I really just think that Dante Rosetti, the man that possibly killed my father, was mouthwatering? What is wrong with me?

It’s not the first time that thought popped up.

Being in his presence make me want to cover up a bit more. I’m definitely not wearing nanny attire.

“Arianna.” His deep tone reaches my ears, making my eyes move away from his naked upper half.

“What?” I say, with some raspiness.

Him being shirtless is really affecting me.

Who wouldn’t be? This man is gorgeous and one that would know how to make a woman scream. Even if he is the meanest and baddest of all the land.

“I asked why you were up so late,” he says putting a container of ice cream on the counter.

Ice cream?

The man that doesn’t allow his kids to eat sugar, beside fruit snacks, is eating ice cream? With that body?

Focus, Ari,

“I um,” I can’t think of anything coherent to say. “I was unpacking, and I thought I would come down for a snack.”

He gives me a nod before he leans against the counter behind him, crossing his arms against his chest. “I thought you unpacked weeks ago.”

Are we having a normal conversation? If we are, this would be a first.

I shake my head. “I’ve been putting it off, and well, I didn’t realize how much it would take to be a live-in nanny.”

Dante nods again, not looking at me while he does it. “Because you’ve never been a nanny before.”

His comment comes off more as an observation than an accusation.

“Yup. Because I’ve never been a nanny before.” I want to roll my eyes, but I don’t. He’s right, I never have.

“But you have a degree in child development.” Another statement and this time he does look at me.

I give him a nod. “There was a point I wanted to be a teacher.”

“What changed your mind?” He asks, looking at me with genuine curiosity.

I don’t know what is happening here, but I don’t hate it.

“I graduated and I saw how much life depended on having money. So, I went to the one place where money was always flowing and ended up liking it.” I give him a shrug like not pursuing something that I wanted to do most of my life wasn’t a big deal.

“You could have gone into stripping.”

I snort. “Would you have hired me as a dancer?”